* AwesomeMusic: A ''requirement'' to win. Heck, just count the whole thing. There's a national selection in most of the countries, which means that the best can only precede. What you're seeing is usually the best of the country.* BrokenBase: The 2015 announcement of [[GuestFighter Australia's participation]] was met with cheers and jeers. Some felt that their participation is a [[AscendedFanboy huge advantage for a country that loves Eurovision almost as much as Europe itself]], and definitely in keeping with the 2015 contest's TagLine (''Building Bridges'') promoting a sense of global unity, while others feel that Eurovision should be Europe-only[[note]][[HateDumb ignoring the fact that several non-European]] [[CriticalResearchFailure countries who are part of the EBU,]] [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer such as Israel, Cyprus, Morocco and Armenia, have participated over the years]][[/note]], and Australia's participation will possibly open up doors for participation from non-European countries such as Brazil and Canada, thus creating new possibility for the contest to [[JumpingTheShark jump the shark]].* CriticalDissonance: Since the introduction of the 50/50 voting format in 2009, it has been essential for contenders to avoid this if they wish to win. Several acts that have fallen into this trap include:** 2011 UK representatives [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1dXMWWq6y8 Blue]] were considered to be one of the favorites to win and even received a credible 5th place in the televoting. However, they were ranked 22nd by the juries, leading to an overall 11th place result, barely missing the top ten. In the same year, the inverse happened to Slovenia's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNP3nfvoqps Maja Keuc]] and Austria's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsBC5AB1tFo Nadine Beiler]], who placed 4th and 5th among the juries respectively, but only placed 22nd and 24th (out of 25 finalists) in the televoting. They finished 13th and 18th respectively in the final event.** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtjdTPnCcu0 Robin Stjernberg]] of Sweden in 2013 was ranked 3rd by the juries, but came in 18th in the televotes, ending up with a 14th place result.** Poland’s MaleGaze-friendly entry in 2014 "My Słowianie - We Are Slavic", came in 5th in the public voting with 162 points. The juries on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the gimmicks, only placing it 23rd with 23 points, leading to a 62 point overall total and a 14th place result.* DancingBear: Lots of examples, whenever an act is most remembered for the gimmick than for the song or singer. Just to mention a couple, if you ask anyone, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waYpnAexrUA the Russian act for 2006]] was about a ghost girl coming out of a piano, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_xRmEkR6KE Ukraine 2011]] was about a woman doing sand drawings and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN3d_V7KVLE Azerbaijan 2013]] was about a guy dancing inside a glass box. In all three cases, the person remembered didn't sing a note.** Moldova does this nearly every year. It's gotten to the point that anybody outside of Europe will only remember one of Moldova's performances, the one from 2010. It's not even its proper name, but everyone knows it as "that Epic Sax Guy song". * EnsembleDarkhorse: ** ABBA and Celine Dion (although French Canadian, she performed for Switzerland) are the most successful entrants career-wise. Ireland hold the record for most wins (seven), most consecutive wins (three, and the year that run ended it was won by an Irishwoman competing for Norway, the following year Ireland won it officially once again, so if you felt like bending the rules you could say they won it five times in a row), and Irishman Johnny Logan has most wins for a single person (one for singing, one for writing, one for singing ''and'' writing). ** 2010 saw a full-fledged meme: the rise of Moldova's "Epic Sax Guy"** And of course, Radio/TerryWogan.* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Iceland's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGegovbGTOg first entry]] in 1986 is "Gleðibankinn", which means "The Bank of Fun". 22 years later in 2008, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%932012_Icelandic_financial_crisis economic crisis strikes]].* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff - The show is quite popular in Australia, where SBS shows it on tape delay for primetime (complete with their own commentators in recent years; they used to carry the BBC's feed). Also the subject of a CutawayGag during the OpeningMonologue of the 2013 edition, which showed an Australian family staying up to watch it live. They fell asleep on the couch.** In honor of the 60th anniversary, Australia will be a GuestFighter at Eurovision 2015. No, [[http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/10/eurovision-song-contest-invites-australia-to-join-worlds-biggest-party really]]!** There's a small but growing group of people in the US who wish that BBC America would air the contest. Some want to watch it because they truly are fans of European music and would like the opportunity to find more potential artists to listen to, others just hear all the snark that Europe throws at it and are interested due to BileFascination.* HypeBacklash: Many winners of their respective years usually get thoroughly bashed once it gets popular; usually by those who didn't find the song very appealing in the first place. The biggest example must be 2014's winner, Conchita Wurst. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToqNa0rqUtY Seriously, just look at the amount of dislikes!]]* ILikedItBetterWhenItSucked - The hilariously bad acts are often more enjoyable than the half-decent ones.** A joke that's often made in the Netherlands (and probably in other countries too) when the contestant of this year is revealed: 'I thought it was impossible, but true, they found a worse singer than last year. Why can't we just send a band like {decent dutch band)?' 'I think it's against the rules to send someone who can actually sing.'* MemeticMutation: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-seDrv1eQo "Epic Sax Guy"]] from the 2010 Moldova entry "Run Away" by Sun Stroke Project & Olia. They're all quite aware of this.** Sweden's 2012 entry Loreen and her [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2dnwzyM4T8 "crab walk"]] seem to be getting there.*** The smallest of the sweet little old Russian ladies from 2012 developed a fandom on Tumblr due to her dance moves.** 2013: "Alcohol is free" became a punchline for jokes about the Greek economic crisis*** Website/{{Tumblr}} users developed a fondness for the Romanian entry, whom they described as the "gay opera dubstep vampire".** In general, every year, Americans who look in at Eurovision tend to react in horror, which causes their European friends to snark at them over this. Usage of Eurovision songs to torture said Americans has yet to be confirmed.* {{Mondegreen}}: Hungary's entry in 2013 probably got 12 points from Germany, because ''Kedvesem'' sounds like "Geldwäsche" (money laundering).** A rather... unfortunate (and hilarious) one from Austria: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKQf8Z5uWQ8 FUCK HIM IN DE POOPOO.]]** A controversial one was Verka Serduchka's "Dancing Lasha Tumbai," which some Russian authorities objected to because the phrase 'Lasha Tumbai' sounded similar to 'Russia Goodbye.' Serduchka claims that it is Mongolian for 'whipped cream,' but this being [[CloudCuckoolander Verka Serduchka]], it's obvious that's it's really just gibberish. The mondegreen caused Serduchka to be banned from performing in the Russian Federation for one year. Lampshaded at the end of [[http://youtu.be/E4drqMGWTuY?t=3m36s this video]].* {{Narm}}* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: The decision for Austria to send in drag queen ConchitaWurst in 2014 was rather controversial for conservative viewers and nations, with some even going as far as saying that she would turn the contest into "a hotbed of sodomy". Ironically, the reason why Wurst’s persona even exists is due to her advocacy towards tolerance, and if anything, the controversy caused even more people to look into and adore her and her song. Especially considering that she won, it’s safe to assume her message of tolerance was heard loud and clear.* OvershadowedByControversy:** It's a matter of debate on whether the UK’s Nul Points in 2003 was more because of anti-British sentiment from the Iraq War, or Jemini's horrifying off key singing, but obviously having both factors going against the UK clearly didn’t help.** Russia's Tolmachevy Sisters in 2014 received a lot of boos from the audience when they made it to the final and when they received high votes, not because of their song (they came in 7th), but because of anti-Russian sentiment due to the Crimean conflict and its stance on gay rights.* {{Padding}} - Many entries have lyrics that's just filler to help a song reach the required time limit.* SnarkBait: The contest itself is considered as this to some, who see it more as a camp pop and political affair rather than a place to find credible artists.** The British retrospective comedy PanelGame ''It's Only TV But I Like It'' included a round entitled "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Let's All Laugh At]] [[FunnyForeigner Foreigners]]" where the teams were shown three embarrassingly bad Eurovision performances from across the years and had to guess which one got 'nul points'.** In the wake of the 2014 contest, the U.S. panel game ''Series/AtMidnight'' did a similar round called "Europe Be Crazy", where the comedians had to guess which textual description was an actual act.* SoBadItsGood: So many it's hard to list them all, but a few notable examples are:** Ukraine's 2007 entry [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfjHJneVonE Dancing Lasha Tumbai]] performing silly dances in silver costumes with quite a weird but catchy melody. They ended up in second place.** Russia's 2012 entry [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKNRGc71hjc Party For Everybody]] of old grannies in traditional Russian attire with a very charming and heartwarming spirit. They ended up in second place, and were absolutely adored by everyone, including the winner.* SuspiciouslySimilarSong:** In 2010, Ukrainian entry Alyosha had to change her song after her entry "To Be Free" was judged to be a copy of the Linda Perry and Grace Slick song "Knock Me Out" (and because it was allegedly made available publicly in 2008, which is also a no-no in the Eurovision rules). As if Ukraine hadn't gone through enough ESC 2010 finalists to begin with; they had already scrubbed Vasyl Lazarovych's "I Love You" after fans complained about the singer that the Ukrainian broadcaster had selected for them. Vasyl participated against 19 other performers in a more "open" selection competition; he finished 7th.** In 2013, Cascada's song for Germany, "Glorious", was accused of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ertVfWmnMa4 plagiarizing last year's winner "Euphoria"]] (and yes, the chorus ''does'' sound similar); however, its producer challenged the claims by saying that while they had a right to investigate, "if you look at the composition in a waveform, you will see that [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth 10,000 pop songs have similar courses]]." They were later cleared of plagiarism charges, but some people still think they ''may'' have [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXpYbIMsMFE stolen]] from a [[Music/SwedishHouseMafia clan of mobsters from Sweden]] instead.* TearJerker: On the first viewing, you may be moved by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=671tCjePT3w Rona Nishliu's]] semi-final performance of "Suus" for Albania in 2012. However, watching it again after you find out about the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qafa_e_Vish%C3%ABs_bus_accident horrible bus accident in Albania]] that happened the day before and after you find out that she dedicated her performance to the victims of the accident makes you realize that she's not visibly holding back tears just because of the mood of the song...* TheyJustDidntCare: When it was revealed that 70's crooner Englebert Humperdink would be dusted off for the UK entry in 2012, people were convinced that the BBC wasn't even trying anymore. Maybe because they've gotten outvoted by Jedward. ''[[DespairEventHorizon Twice]].''* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Long after Western Europe stopped taking it seriously, the fall of the Soviet Union and the breakup of Yugoslavia led to a number of new countries seeing appearing in it as a serious mark of independence, a show of national pride, and even as an advert for tourism. Then of course there's the MisplacedNationalism between bitter rivals. %% The western countries, who actually pay for it, were somewhat bemused. ("bemused" in which sense? Find a better word.)* ViewerGenderConfusion: Again, Serbia's entries in 2007 and 2010.** Austria's entry in 2014. TropesAreNotBad.* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: The famous ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGlJyCXNu_M Insieme(togeather)]]'' by Toto Cutugno; also known by it's chorus "Unite, unite Europe"; won the contest just as the last details were being completed for the forming of EU.** To an extent, about half the entries in 1990 definitely count, seeing as this was the first contest held since TheGreatPoliticsMessUp - as demonstrated with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDcuPi9KIcY Austria]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-eN9GuaaCs Norway's]] entries.